Upholding the subordinate courts’ order, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to release CPN-UML leader and former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and six others who are in judicial custody for their alleged involvement in a fake Bhutanese refugee scam.

Rayamajhi, Tek Narayan Pandey, a suspended government secretary, Indrajit Rai, an adviser to former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Nepali Congress leader Ang Tawa Sherpa, among others, had moved the top court against the ruling of the subordinate courts to send them to judicial custody. Among the 10 who had moved the court, three have got bail or are released on general dates.

A division bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Tek Narayan Dhungana directed to release Sherpa and Govinda Chaudhary on bail and Shamsher Miya, former chairperson of Nepal Hajj Committee, on general dates.

“The court has directed to release Sherpa and Chaudhary on Rs3 million and Rs1 million bail, respectively. They will be released on general dates,” said Govinda Ghimire, information officer at the court. “The division bench, however, has upheld the decision of the subordinate courts in case of other petitioners.”

After over two weeks of hearing, the Kathmandu District Court on June 16 last year had sent 16 out of 18 defendants in the scam including Rayamajhi and Nepali Congress leader and former minister Bal Krishna Khand to judicial custody.

Challenging the decision, they had moved the Patan High Court seeking their release. They had refused their involvement in the crime. After weeks-long hearing the court upheld the district court’s ruling in the case of nine accused while directed to release others—on bail and without. It had ordered authorities to release Sandeep Rayamajhi, son of former deputy prime minister Rayamajhi, on a bail of Rs3 million, and Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal, Ram Sharan KC and Hari Bhakta Maharjan on bail of Rs1.5 million each.

The division bench of judges Janak Pandey and Prakash Kharel, however, was divided on Khand’s case. While Pandey stood for his release for Rs3 million in bail, Kharel wanted the continuation of the custody.

The decision was presented before a single bench of Judge Krishna Ram Koirala on December 14 last year who ruled that the district court’s decision to send Khand into judicial custody was unjustified. In line with Pandey, he directed the Congress leader be released on a bail of Rs3 million. Khand was released the next day after he submitted the bail amount.

The decision to release him met with criticism but the Office of the Attorney General has been reluctant to challenge the high court’s decision in the top court. It is normal practice for the office to file petitions against the lower court’s decision in the higher courts if their rulings are against their charge sheet.

On May 24, 2023, the District Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu had filed criminal cases at the District Court against 30 individuals accused in the scam.

They have been charged with four types of crimes—treason, organised crime, fraud and forgery. The accused have been charge-sheeted for collecting Rs288.17 million from 115 victims—ranging from Rs150,000 to Rs4.8 million each—by promising to send them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

In 2019, the then government led by KP Sharma Oli had formed a task force under then joint secretary Bal Krishna Panthi to recommend ways to manage Bhutanese refugees who remained in Nepal after the end of the third-country resettlement programme.

The task force submitted a report including 429 Bhutanese refugees who had been left behind. Later, the racketeers, in collusion with some top officials, prepared another report and added hundreds of other people to the list of refugees.

Along with Keshab Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Pandey and Rai are the prime accused in the scam.

Final hearings on the case which involves senior leaders from the major parties, however, is yet to begin. The Kathmandu District Court will hear the matter.